School officials wary of budget promises

Although Gov. Rick Snyder announced a new education budget proposal with a $75 per-pupil increase in revenue from the state, school officials in Livingston County don’t see that as being a reality — with some districts expecting meager per-pupil increases and others expecting a loss in funding.

Due to the items in the proposal, Hartland may lose $25 per-pupil and Pinckney $35 per-pupil.

“It depends on the budget and the way it’s constructed,” said Rick Todd, Pinckney superintendent.

Snyder has proposed a $13.95 billion budget for K-12 education for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. Of that money, $12.13 billion comes from the School Aid Fund.

However, while the proposal may have districts’ revenue increasing across the state, it will end up eliminating some “performance” funding and reduce “best practices” one-time funding.

None of Livingston County’s five public schools districts expect to receive the full $75 per-pupil increase.

Fowlerville Community Schools and Brighton Area Schools both are planning for no increase to make sure they don’t overbudget.

“All versions have us anywhere from nothing to a $20 increase,” said Greg Gray, Brighton Area Schools superintendent. “We don’t get to make the decision, so we just need to make adjustments where needed.”

Fowlerville Community Schools Superintendent Wayne Roedel said the district is going to “hang tight to see where we fall,” when the proposal is finalized.

Howell Public Schools would only receive a $5 increase with Snyder’s proposal.

Before Snyder became governor, public schools received a flat per-pupil rate each year. Since he was sworn into office, a “dashboard scenario” for schools to receive additional funding for performance and best practices has been offered.

The performance funding depends on the previous school year’s test results. Best practices includes consolidations and bidding services — both of which change annually.

The amount of performance and best practices money a district receives depends on what they qualify for each year.

“I am always optimistic, and what is being proposed now won’t be reality,” Todd said. “We will have to just wait and see what the final version is.”

The budget proposal is still in the initial stages and numbers are not finalized until a version is passed. Until then, the education budget proposal goes to the House and Senate for review.